Tongal Hands Out 13 'Tongies' To Honor Creative Community At First-Annual Awards Show

KISS' Gene Simmons and The Pointer Sisters make surprise appearances for crowd at El Rey Theatre

April 03, 2014 --

LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Tongal, the industry-leading, community-sourced platform for creative content, hosted the first-ever 'Tongies' award show at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 2. This inaugural event brought together the company's leading community members from around the world, awarding 13 Tongies to celebrate the innovations, ideas and videos contributing to global campaigns for brands, film studios and music artists.

KISS founder and guitarist Gene Simmons surprised the audience by presenting the 'Best Original Song' award to Texas-based SnapBrothers Productions for Welch's Fruit Snacks. At the show's conclusion, R&B group The Pointer Sisters took the stage to perform some of their biggest hits, including 'Jump,' 'I'm So Excited' and 'Fire.' Simmons and his KISS bandmates will also be kicking off a Tongal campaign this week to source big ideas on how the band can celebrate their 40th anniversary in style, which is part of a new 'Left Field' initiative for Tongal. More about the KISS campaign can be found at http://www.tongal.com/kissbigidea

Other top winners of the evening included Alabama native David Kilgo, who took home a Tongie for his work on Pringles and Star Wars. In addition, Charles Frank from Massachusetts came out on top in the 'Best Broadcast Spot' category based on his 'Growing in Pieces' video for Hasbro. A group of community members were also inducted into the Tongal Hall of Fame, including some who have contributed to brand campaigns since the company's inception in 2009.

"This was an amazing night where we brought together some of the best Tongalers in our history and recognized all the creative work this community has delivered the past year," said James De Julio, Co-Founder and President of Tongal. "To have all these people in one room, joined by the likes of Gene Simmons and The Pointer Sisters, is a huge milestone for our company and a sign of exciting things to come."

Each Tongie award featured a replica of the company's expanded logo, the triumphant hand holding a lightning bolt to signify the creative ideas that generate from the Tongal community. A full list of the 13 Tongie categories, winners and brands are as follows:

Tongaler of the Year: The award recognizing contributions across categories went to Convoy Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based production company founded by Marshall Cook and Tyler Hawes. In addition to the Tongaler of the Year award, Convoy Entertainment was also nominated in the Best Comedy category for their work with Glide.

Video of the Year: The Tongies equivalent of "Best Picture" was awarded to Stephan Malik from Los Angeles for his inspiring tribute to the work ethic of Oral-B employees on behalf of the brand.

Best Broadcast Spot: Charles Frank 'Growing in Pieces' Hasbro

Best 2D Animation: Dylan Woodley 'Chapter 6, Unto the Breach' The LEGO Group

All Tongie nominations were determined by the Tongies Nominating Committee and winners were chosen through an online voting process by fans and community members (known as 'Tongalers').

Based out of the Los Angeles tech community of Silicon Beach, Tongal has completed hundreds of video campaigns for Procter & Gamble brands, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Ford, LEGO, GE and Ricola. Tongal has also partnered with leading studios (Spitfire Pictures) and philanthropic organizations (The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to develop original content. Through these initiatives, Tongal is making creative work for major brands and audiences accessible to creative professionals around the world.

Tongal has broken up the creative process into a relay-style approach, in which writers, producers, directors and innovators can submit ideas based on a specific creative brief and their individual strengths. Those submitting the best ideas for each project are rewarded/paid, then filmmakers pitch their favorite ideas, with winning pitches receiving funding to complete their work and compete for the (final) video prizes. Info about the full process can be found at http://tongal.com/how

To date, 22 Tongalers have earned more than $100,000 through the site, while more than 100 people have earned $10,000. This year, Tongal will pay out more than $10 million to their community members, who come from more than 100 countries. The brand also created 12 broadcast advertisements for their partners that aired last year, including two during the Super Bowl.

About TONGALTongal's mission is to make creative work accessible to everyone who needs it, and everyone who thrives on it. Tongal connects talented writers, producers, and directors everywhere with the world's most imaginative brands, to produce great content. Their web-based platform breaks down creative development into a series of challenges, from idea through execution, so anyone can participate and contribute in the areas where they're most qualified. Tongal is based in Santa Monica, Calif.www.tongal.com